Blocked safety device blamed in mine blast

MOSCOW — A methane gas explosion that killed 108 people at a Siberian coal mine was caused by a deliberate blockage of safety equipment, investigators said Monday.

Konstantin Pulikovsky, head of the industrial watchdog Rostekhnadzor, which is investigating the March 19 disaster, said the mine’s methane gas detection system had been blocked, allowing the gas to build up to unsafe levels.

“The automatic system showing methane levels was rendered nonoperational ... so that the sensors would not shut down electricity at the mine,” Pulikovsky told reporters, according to his spokesman, Yevgeny Anoshin.

Pulikovsky charged that “managers at various levels” at the mine were responsible for giving such orders.

Russian media have reported that miners often cover the methane gas sensors with their jackets to keep the system from sounding a warning and stopping work.